Again, Theological error concerning a works salvation espoused on FB:“… see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only….. O vain man, that faith without works is dead. James2-To the Already Saved.”

Christian response,

Again, you fail to understand the Scripture. Justification comes by grace through faith not works (Ephesians 2:8-9). If a man or woman could earn God’s righteousness by human effort, Jesus died in vain. A Christian’s works ONLY become relevant SUBSEQUENT to establishing a relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Until that relationship is established and guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit, your works are as a filthy menstrual rag in the nose of God (Isaiah 64:6).

In fact, before you confess Jesus as your Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead for your justification, God will NOT even hear your prayer let alone acknowledge your works (John 9:31). We know that God’s heart is turned and receptive toward the one who approaches Him with a contrite and humble spirit, not works (Isaiah 66:2). Not until that eternal relationship with the Father is established through faith-belief in the Son and said relationship is sealed-guaranteed by the Spirit will your works be accounted as validating and authenticating your confession.

Every Christian, if their confession is true, will walk in good works i.e. obedience to our Lord via the indwelling Holy Spirit as it is our obedience, our works, SUBSEQUENT to our confession that validates our faith as authentic and true. It is the one who “believes” in the Son that is justified before the Father NOT the one who works.

The Holy Spirit expresses the necessity of faith first and works subsequently in Romans 4, It is written,

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in[a] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered;

8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Theological question on FB: “Where is the command in the Hebrew Tanakh (ot) to believe in J-s death (human sacrifice) for salvation and forgiveness of sin?”

Christian response,

Though Isaiah (Ch. 53) and the Psalmist (Ch. 22) prophesied about the atoning death of Messiah, the Covenant of Law does NOT offer or provide regenerative atonement for sin as the Law of Moses/the Sinai Commandments only defines sin and condemns the soul (Romans 3:20) and this is why David, having attained righteousness through faith (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22), noted that his soul would be relegated to Sheol (Paradise) and that the Holy One (Yeshua) would not suffer decay.You see, everyone from Adam until Messiah’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross, no one could enter the Kingdom of God because sin minus atonement can never enter the Kingdom (Revelation 21:27); therefore, those who had found righteousness (a right standing) with God the Father through their “faith” during the Old Testament dispensation, they were forced to await Messiah’s atonement before they could be released from Sheol-Paradise and enter the Kingdom (Luke 16).

Even the thief on the Cross that expressed faith in Yeshua was told by Messiah that he would be with Him in “paradise” that very day subsequent to their death as Yeshua descended into Hades-Sheol/Paradise and preached liberty to the Old Testament captives there and subsequently escorted them into the Kingdom while His body of flesh laid in the tomb yet said body did not suffer decay but was resurrected as prophesied by David.

It is written concerning “Paradise,”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.… Luke 23:42-44

It is written concerning Messiah in Isaiah,

For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.” 16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken. 17 I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place.… Isaiah 28:14-17

The Psalmist declares,

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Psalm 118:22

Deadly Jewish heresy espoused on FB concerning the genealogy and Deity of Yeshua – Jesus Christ: “A virgin birth or adoption = no tribal status = no Jewish king or priest.”

Christian response,

That is false. Void the virgin birth, Messiah could not have manifest in the hypostatic union and we would be dead in our iniquity.

Messiah, according to Genesis 3:15, entered Time through the womb of a virgin woman to circumvent the sin-nature passed through the seed of Adam>Joseph; otherwise, Yeshua would have been born with a sin-nature and it would be virtually impossible for God, in His perfect holiness, to coexist in a body of sin (Philippians 2:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 21:27).

Psalm 49 says that no man can pay a ransom for another man. A few verses later, in verse 15, it says God will pay the ransom (pictured in Genesis 3:21). God the Father couldn’t have used John, or Peter or Paul to die for us. God the Father had to have the God-man die for us. So, the deity of Yeshua is essential for redemption through the blood atonement (John 14:6; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 10).

If you reject or don’t see the necessity for Messiah’s Deity, you are not “born again” by God the Holy Spirit (John 3; John 8:24); therefore, you are NOT saved from God’s wrath and you will die in sin and die the “second death” in Hell (John 8:24).

Conclusion,

Jesus was born of the Tribe of Judah through Miriam (Mary) through Heli (Luke 3:23-38). I caution you to reexamine your positioning concerning Yeshua; without Yeshua as your God to Mediate your sin before the Father, you have no hope! Also, see an exegesis on Messiah’s genealogy at: https://jewsforjesus.org/issues-v05-n06/the-genealogy-of-the-messiah

Another Sabbath Keeper asks the question: “WHY DO MOST CHRISTIANS KEEP THE FIRST DAY AS A DAY OF WORSHIP INSTEAD OF THE SEVENTH DAY??”

Christian response,

As a Christian, I keep Sunday as my Day of Worship as I am free to do so in Christ Jesus as I am not under the Law of Moses or the Sinai Commandments but under Grace (Romans 6:14). The Law was given specifically to the Hebrew Tribes and those who converted to Judaism; never was the Law given to the Christian or the Christian Church in the New Covenant nor was the Sabbath given to the early Gentile Christians (Acts 15).

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8) and in Him the Sabbath is fulfilled (Matthew 5:17) and Jesus is my Sabbath’s rest, NOT a day (Hebrews 4). No one possesses the authority to question my day of worship and this is especially relevant to the hypocrisy and heresy espoused by the Cult of the Black Hebrew Israelite’s.

Eternal error expressed on FB: “Muslims and Christians worship the same God.”

Christian response,

Elohim-I AM-Jesus Christ-Yeshua i.e. the God of the Bible is the antithesis of Islam’s Allah. Allah is Satan manifest publicly in the 7th-Century through the pagan cult of Islam via the Arabic moon god. Allah touts legitimacy through Islam’s relationship with Abraham via Abraham’s adulterous affair with Hagar producing the “wild donkey” of a man named Ishmael (Genesis 16:12). Ishmael is the father of the Ishmaelites who are the progenitors of the Arabic tribes who are the progenitors of a demon possessed, murdering, thieving, pedophile, named Muhammad who is the initiator of the pagan cult called Islam.

Muhammad plagiarized the Jewish Torah to construct the Quran in hopes of convincing the Jews in Medina to follow the Way of Islam or The Book but the Jews rejected Muhammad and his new religion. Muhammad began to persecute, extort and abuse and enslave and murder Jews and Christians and via the Islamic Caliphate, over the next 1600 years, Islam-Allah butchered 270-million non-Muslims in the name of Allah until they were stopped in 1924 (John 8:44).

Allah-Satan found a way to garner praise and adoration denied him in the Kingdom by hijacking the cult of Islam where billions of men, women, children, praise the god of death and darkness, Allah. Allah-Satan conspired with Hitler to murder 6-million Jews and Allah-Satan via Islam/Iran will conspire with Russia and China and an Arabic-coalition and come against Jerusalem, Israel in the near future and a horrific nuclear war will ensue that will initiate the Millennial Reign of Messiah-Yeshua.

Conclusion,

There is no life in Allah or Islam…these are death to mind, body and soul. It is ONLY through Isaac that Messiah entered into the World, not Ishmael. ONLY Isaac is the son of promise, NOT Ishmael.

Satan, an angel of light i.e. the Arabic moon god, has hijacked the Holy Name, Allah, and uses it to mask his intent and death and deception through Islam; therefore, do not use the name Allah to represent our God, Yeshua, who suffered and died so that we can live by grace through faith in Him, alone (John 14:6)!

Theological question concerning God the Holy Spirit:“Is the Holy Spirit a separate entity from God or is it just the Power of God like wind?”

Christian response,

God the Holy Spirit is traditionally held as the 3rd-Person of the Trinity. This numeric positioning is not meant to suggest the Holy Spirit is somehow less of God but in reality, the Holy Spirit is the active force, the tangible expression of the LOVE of God manifest in tangible ways in order that Creation, Redemption, Salvation can manifest within the Realm of Time. The Holy Spirit is first introduced to us in Genesis 1:2 and throughout Scripture the Holy Spirit literally “gets things done.”

It is the Holy Spirit that implanted Messiah into the womb of Mary (Luke 1:35) and it is the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) and it is the Holy Spirit that worked through Messiah’s ministry of healing, raising the dead, casting out unclean spirits (Acts 10:38); without God the Holy Spirit, there would be no life, no hope (John 3).

It is the Holy Spirit that Seals us in the day of redemption, that is, He is our Guarantee of relationship with God the Father subsequent to our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord for the mediation of our sin (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is indeed MOST WORTHY of our praise and worship and honor as He is our indwelling Gift from the Father who abides with the faithful forever as He walks us through the process of sanctification and prepares us for service in the Kingdom of God (1 John 2:27)!

Atheist mocks God’s mercy: “Christians say God is merciful, yet His mercy can’t be found in a children’s cancer ward at the hospital. I wonder why?”

Christian response,

God is Just, Holy, Merciful, True. Cancer is the resultant of man’s rejection of God and God’s Covenant of Sustenance as genomic mutational degradation is the result of the Adamic Curse and cancer is but one unfortunate outcome. Elohim warned, man did not listen but chose narcissism over obedience.

Every child that dies before attaining an age of accountability is immediately translated into the Kingdom as children are not held culpable for sin because God has so decreed that where there is no Law, there is no sin; in other words, until an individual attains an age/cognitive acuity sufficient to understand God’s righteous decrees upon their life and the ramifications for disobedience/sin, that child in not considered “guilty” in accordance with God’s mercy and justice.

God is merciful and has given Himself in death upon a Cross to express that mercy, but the spiritually dead and foolish individual existing in the facade of atheism fails to understand the relevance and depth of God’s mercy; therefore, they have destined them self, in their rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord, to a physiological death in sin and the “second death” in Hell pertaining to both the resurrected body and the soul (John 8:24; Revelations 20:11-15; Matthew 10:28).

Sin-nature or sinner by choice? Theological statement on FB: “I wasn’t born a sinner, I became one. You cannot repent from something you were from birth, only something you have chosen to become after. This is why as long as Christians believe they were born sinners, they will have no idea what sin is… Sin is transgression of the Law of God.”

Christian response,

Must a child be taught to disrespect his parents? Must a child be taught to lie or steal? You were born with a sin-nature inherited from your father who inherited that sin-nature from his father who ultimately inherited it from our first father, Adam. We all sin (Romans 3:23) because we’re sinners by nature. This is why Messiah was born through the womb of a virgin woman as He bypassed the sin-nature passed through the seed of man, Adam – Joseph.

It is that sin-nature and the accompanying sin, when having attained an age of reason/accountability, that separates us from God and that chasm can only be bridged by faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, as your God and Mediator for sin because in Adam, all die and the unrepentant, those who reject Jesus as Lord, will die the “second death” in Hell because God the Father is NOT going to permit your unrepentant sin to enter His Kingdom subsequent to the death of your body in Time (1 Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:27).

Rebutting a theological error concerning a works salvation:“In reading Matthew 25 v 41-46 l cannot see anything other that ‘works’ getting a person into the Kingdom. And, in fact, ‘lack of works’ seems to guarantee eternal punishment. It does not even say you have to have ‘Faith’.”

Christian response,

If you could “work” your way into relationship with the Father, Jesus would not have needed to suffer and die (Galatians 2:21). From Genesis 3:21 forward, God’s plan for redemption has always mandated that God HIMSELF would be the Redeemer, the Propitiation, the Lamb of sacrifice, for our sin apart from works or any form of human effort (Ephesians 2:8-9; Genesis 22:8).

God tells you that even on your best day, your works are as a bloody menstrual rag in His nose (Isaiah 64:6). Without faith, you cannot approach God the Father and without faith, God will not lend you a listening ear (Isaiah 66:2). Your works, philanthropy, good deeds, all become relevant SUBSEQUENT to your confession of Jesus as Lord and Mediator for your sin and subsequent to receiving the Holy Spirit as your Seal and Guarantor of relationship.

It is your good behavior – obedience – loving your neighbor as yourself, that verifies, authenticates, validates, your confession as being from the heart in sincerity and the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit in your life actively walking you through the process of sanctification. First, you must be “justified” before the Father by grace thorough faith in Jesus, alone – then – that faith becomes a verb and produces good works as you are led by the Spirit of God in sanctification.

Rebuttal to cult confusion concerning the virgin birth:“Just imagine, John 3:16 says that God has ‘begotten’ Jesus! “Begotten” means – Something is begotten when it has been generated by procreation — in other words, it has been fathered by mean of sexual intercourse. Is this how Christians view God? That God begets?”

Christian response,

God the Father is free to bring forth His Messiah in any manner He chooses but from The Beginning (Genesis 3:15) God the Father chose to bring Messiah into the World through the seed of the Woman through the power and sovereignty and dominion of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). What does “only begotten” mean concerning our Messiah?The ” only begotten” in reference to Messiah means “the One and Only” “the Unique One” “the Only One of it Kind.”

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His [a]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NASB) *see footnote = [a] Or unique, only one of His kind

Greek text: “only begotten” = μονογενῆ > monogenē = monogenés: only begotten

Original Word: μονογενής, έςPart of Speech: Adjective Transliteration: monogenés Phonetic Spelling: (mon-og-en-ace’) Definition: only begotten Usage: only, only-begotten; unique.

HELPS Word-studies

3439 monogenḗs (from 3411 / misthōtós, “one-and-only” and 1085 /génos, “offspring, stock”) – properly, one-and-only; “one of a kind” – literally, “one (monos) of a class, genos” (the only of its kind).

See John 3:16 (Greek): https://biblehub.com/text/john/3-16.htm

See “only begotten” in Greek: μονογενῆ > monogenē @ https://biblehub.com/greek/3439.htm

Note: If you reject the deity of Jesus Christ, you are not saved nor are you secure in God the Father as you do not possess the indwelling Holy Spirit who testifies of Messiah’s deity and the necessity for same. If you deny Messiah’s deity, you will die in your sin (John 8:24). Jesus Christ was not born of the seed of man (Joseph-Adam) but of the seed of the virgin woman via the Holy Spirit (Genesis 3:15; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35) thereby circumventing the sin-nature transferred genomically though the man, Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12-21).